Set the Stage to Transform Your PMO to a Strategic PMO
- Rudy Melendez
- Aug 15, 2020
- 3 min read
A project management office (PMO) that sprouts from projects in crises have a tendency to live out the saying, “Get it done at all costs.”
Accountable for planning and overseeing the tactical execution of projects, project managers are likely to employ an autocratic leadership style to deliver projects to their customers’ expectations. Praised for successfully rescuing projects in crises, they focus on cementing a reputation of getting projects done with little or no consideration to company strategic initiatives, annual budget, or industry direction.
Best Intentions Not Enough
Despite a company’s best intentions for launching a PMO, the PMO could find itself laboring to justify its value once the crises is over. To no fault of the PMO, companies are often quick to create a PMO to rescue projects in crises (solve project shortcomings, bring project expenses under control, provide program guidance to cross-functional team, support IT with prioritizing projects/resources), as opposed to creating the PMO to function as a strategic partner within the company.
Project managers with their sight set on closing projects, spend the majority of their energy and time pushing team members to achieve results, with little or no time allocated to pulling from team members through complete and timely sharing of information.
Overcome Excuses
For all the right reasons a PMO and project managers strive for transparency, there are just as many excuses given why they provide obscure project, program, portfolio management information to company, customers, team members. Excuses include:
Insufficient time or resources to update/generate reports
Missing tools to facilitate distribution of project information
Nonexistence of standardized project management processes
Project managers with various levels of experience and skills
Project reports/information is not reviewed (i.e. no one cares)
Control the information, control the project
Just when you think you're in control, you realize that you're not.
How do customers know the value your PMO and project managers provide if they don’t know what they are working on, or what they have achieved? The threat of not cultivating transparency by facilitating and inciting your company and customers to access relevant, detailed, timely project information will lead to:
Mediocre business decisions
Reduced productivity
Negative PMO perception
Upset or dissatisfied customers
Low morale among project managers
No Action is Not an Option
PMOs that do not strive for transparency encourage environments where project manager accountability declines, delivery of projects is inconsistent, quality of work deteriorates, silos and poor communication flourish. Also, project managers who limit project information distribution to sponsors, stakeholders, team members - jeopardize the project teams ability to produce optimal output/results.
The likelihood sporadic sharing of project information (state of active, queued up, backlog projects) across the organization will result in ad hoc project demand surges, reallocation of project dollars, reassignment of resources is greater.
Transparency fortifies trust, respect, and partnerships in the environment.
Habitually, PMOs are overwhelm by company divisions, departments, customers they support, inside and outside the company. Although, challenged with limited resources, restricted authority, and expected to do more with less, the PMO and its project managers must promote transparency to secure their existence, optimize resources, and mitigate risk.
Transparency Commitment
A commitment to transparency starts with your PMO and project managers promoting relevant, detailed, timely project information to the company and customers, while exploring new channels of communication to deliver the information efficiently. Fostering a PMO transparent culture will benefit sponsors, stakeholders, team members. A list of PMO benefits that are a direct result of advocating transparency between your PMO and the company include:
Cultivates project accountability and responsibility
Increases value-added collaboration and communication
Advances data-informed project decisions
Promotes alignment of projects with business initiatives
Encourages customer and project manager partnerships
Conclusion
PMO and project managers that strive to create a transparent culture with the company and customers are taking a major step to becoming a Strategic PMO. Transparency will contribute to solidifying a working partnership relationship between the PMO and the company.
Overtime, the PMO will earn the strategic partner recognition, play a greater role in project decision making, expand PMO services, eliminate sidestepping of PMO processes, and establish itself as project management subject matter expert within the company and with its customers.
A Strategic PMO can bridge the gap between business strategy and implementation by helping the business realize strategic initiatives through projects.
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